A Girl Named Sakura
by MibuWolf
Summary: Sanosuke decides to return to Tokyo after a six year absense but discovers a new addition to the old faces that looks just like a certain kitsune.
1. If Only He Knew

Author's Note: Well I did promise you another SanosukeXMegumi fic…

Disclaimer: I totally deny all charges pressed against me (not THAT way! O.o) for "stealing" RK characters…

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A Girl Named Sakura

Chapter One: If Only He Knew

Megumi lay fast asleep on the futon, her eyes closed in slumber, while the others looked on.

"Jeez, she looks like she hasn't rested for ten years," Yahiko commented. Kaoru glared at her "insensitive" student and contemplated whacking the insolent brat on the head, but considering where they were and that her bokken was "conveniently" out of reach, decided not to.

"Well, anyone would be like that if they had to go through what she did," Kaoru explained.

"It's that bad?"

"From what I've heard, it's even worse than the thrashing you got from Hennya of the Juppon Gatana, back in Kyoto." At that, the raven –haired girl lightly stroked the ever-growing bump in her abdomen. " I hope that mine, if it can't hurt less, won't last as long."

Just then, Megumi stirred, interrupting their small talk. "Megumi-san!" Kaoru said, leaning forward to help her up.

"Where's Sakura?" were her first words, I want to see her."

Soon, the lady doctor was cuddling the day-old infant in her arms, her midnight-shaded hair framing her delicately-sculpted though worn-out face.

"She's beautiful," Kaoru commented.

Before Yahiko could stop himself, he remarked rather tactlessly, "If only that ass of her father knew." This time, Kaoru did whack him by aiming a slipper at his head and scoring a perfect bullseye.

"Ow! What was that for Ugly! Jeez, I hope that your baby doesn't end up looking like you or I'll have nightmares!" the kid samurai whined, dodging yet another slipper.

Megumi gazed down at her newborn child. If only he was here with them now. He would've been so proud…

_Why did you have to go? What would you do if you were here? If you knew?_

Instantly as if by reflex, her mind flashed back to that night. The very last time she'd seen him… the night when…

_Forget him_, she told herself silently and firmly. _That idle ass wouldn't have cared enough anyway. All men are the same. He's not worth it. I can manage fine without him. _

Megumi lifted a finger to stroke the newborn's face, while secretly vowing that she would never once look back from now on. She'd do all she could to bring up her baby, the one she named "Sakura" for the flowers which surrounded her place of birth and the falling petals which fell amongst them that very night.

But though part of her mind rejected the man she used to love, there was still that lingering thought that lay beneath in her sub-conscious mind.

_Where are you now Sanosuke? And what are you doing?_

_If only you knew…_

If only he knew.

…

In some other corner of the world (certainly not Japan), Sagara Sanosuke woke up with a start. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned a little at his interrupted sleep, and then got up, though quite in an unwilling manner.

_Funny, _he thought to himself, _I had the weirdest dream last night. I saw all the others back in Tokyo, especially that Kitsune. _

_Actually, half the time I was just dreaming about her. _

_Wonder what they're all doing now without me around… _

If only he knew.

…

Six years later…

As the people of Tokyo went about their daily business, no one seemed to take notice of the two young children playing by themselves outside the Kamiya Kasshin Dojo where Kaoru taught her students kendo. All seemed well in the peaceful neighbourhoood until…

"Tag! You're it!" a girl with long black hair and earth-coloured eyes shrieked excitedly as she whacked her unfortunate playmate hard on the left shoulder. "Come and et me Kenji!"

"Chotto matte!" cried Kenji, not wanting to be left behind. He quickly picked himself up and chased after her. "Sakura-san, chotto matte!"

…

Meanwhile, class had ended and the students were preparing to leave the Dojo. Two of the students, Outa and Duo, were chatting with each other when…

"Oof!" Sakura and Kenji collided with Outa and Duo and they all landed in a heap on the ground.

"Oww…" grumbled Duo, rubbing his sore rear end. "Did a meteorite blast its way in here or what?"

"Nah, it's little Sakura and Kenji," replied Outa, pointing at his neice and her friend.

"It's not my fault!" Kenji protested indignantly. "Sakura and I were playing tag and I'm it!"

"Ahh, sou desu ka?" said Duo, raising his eyebrows. "So it's Sakura again?"

Sakura simply pouted and stuck her tongue out at Kaoru's student.

"Yare yare," sighed Duo, "What's your daddy going to say when he finds out? He'd think that he has a son and not a daughter!"

"He won't say anything because he doesn't know me," Sakura replied. "And I don't even have one." She didn't say it smart-like; it was true.

Duo was about to continue when he received a kick on his leg from Outa. "Why don't you go back home first and I'll meet you later." He suggested tactfully, not wishing to see his niece being interrogated by his friend on her "family tree".

Duo shrugged and left the Dojo. Outa bent down so that he was eye-to-eye level with Sakura and spoke gently. "Sakura, you know that it's not very nice to go around hitting boys and one day it might not be fat Duo that you bump into."

Sakura nodded and replied, "I know."

"Promise you won't do it again?"

"I promise. Like me?" she asked, playing their old, favourite game.

"Rivers." Outa couldn't help grinning.

"Love me?"

Her uncle paused for a while before replying, "Oceans. Now go get ready to go see Mommy."

Sakura smiled back at him and went off to get ready for their trip to the clinic. Outa gazed after her, sighing inwardly.

Ever since his own older brother Sanosuke left Japan for kami sama knows where, he'd helped Megumi to take care of his young niece and watched her grow up in place of her own father.

It shouldn't be him. Uki always chided him for wasting his time doing something that was meant for someone else.

Their sister was right: Sanosuke should've been the one looking after her. He should've been there from the very beginning.

If only he were here. If he had known about Sakura's existence, he would've stayed.

If only he knew.

…

"Kenshin," said Kaoru, "I'm going to accompany Outa and Sakura back to the clinic. Could you keep an eye on Kenji while I'm gone?"

"Hai," her husband agreed, taking Kenji from her.

"I won't be gone long!" Kaoru added as she left with the othe two.

"Now I'll just be getting the laundry done and the… Oroooooo!" Kenji had reached up for a lock of his fiery red hair and pulled it hard again!

"Oroooo…" it was definitely going to be a very long wait.

…

"Take this medicine five minutes before you take your food," Megumi instructed her patient, an old lady with her silvery white hair tied into a bun at the back of her head. "And make sure you have plenty of rest as well."

"Arigato Dr Takani," murmured the old lady, taking the medicine gratefully.

Just then, there was a cry of "Mommy!" before a smaller version of the lady doctor whizzed through the crowd of patients at the clinic. Megumi bent down and caught Sakura in her embrace.

"Mommy I had such a fun time at Kenji's! We were playing tag and-oh!" she realized the old lady was there and remembered her manners. "Konnichiwa, oba-chan!"

"Such a lovely child," the old lady remarked, stretching out a hand to pat the six-year old on the head. "She certainly takes after you, Dr Takani."

So saying, the old lady left with the medicine.

"Well, I 'd better get back," said Kaoru, "Before Kenji really tears the house apart and gives Kenshin a headache!"

"I'm going to practice my kendo," added Outa, and left as well.

Which left Sakura to follow her mother into the clinic, while prattling about her day's activities. Finally, she got to the part when she bumped into "fat Duo", as Outa so aptly put it.

"Duo said that if Daddy looked at me he'd think I was a boy!" said Sakura, "Mommy, what would Daddy think? Mommy, why don't I have a Daddy? How come Kenji has two parents and I don't?"

Megumi froze, her eyes widened.

_What would Daddy think?_

"Mommy?"

"Your father- Sakura why are your hands so dirty! Here let me wash them! I thought I told you to wash them thoroughly before coming here!"

The sensitive topic was left untouched-for now.

But they couldn't avoid it for long.

Sooner or later they would all know the answer to their question.

If only they knew…

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Author's Note: Nearghhh… tired out… 2 am in the morning…

For those of you wondering, Outa and Uki are siblings of Sanosuke. They appear in volume 26 of the manga. Outa is the quiet one usually but I decided to make him a little more "talkative", what with Sakura and all… and Uki's supposed to be really short-fused from what I've read… anyway…

PLEASE REVIEW! MY ONE AND ONLY DEATH WISH IS FOR YOU TO REVIEW AND I'LL BE THE HAPPIEST PERSON ALIVE ON ARGIATO!

:passed out: mC


	2. Homecoming

Author's Note: MibuWolf apologizes for the lack of updates due to her heavy schedule. Anyway, "A Girl Named Sakura" is to be re-started because of the poor phasing of the story so far. So anyway… on with the show! (Not much for this chapter, save for some minor adjustments…)

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A Girl Named Sakura

Chapter Two: Homecoming

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"Sanosuke…":

_Nani… _Where the heck was he? This place didn't look like China at all!

_I'm back in Tokyo! _And just who was calling his name over and over again? His eyes searched through the crowd but he couldn't identify the speaker from so many faces.

"Baka rooster head, does this mean you have forgotten how to recognize me, not after all those nights when I whispered sweet nothings in your ear?" The voice was sad, disappointment heavy in its tone at his failure to recognize the speaker. The voice was soft, gentle, like the soothing lullaby he once had the chance to hear back in Tokyo, Japan. The voice belonged to a woman.

That voice, he realized, was Megumi's.

"Megumi!" Sanosuke called out when he saw her face, a captivating picture of beauty.

"Reach out for me, Sanosuke, it's been a long time, too long…" she told him softly. Obeying, Sanosuke's hand reached out to touch her, to stroke her ivory white cheek, to grasp her slender hand in his again, but to his utter shock, he found out that he couldn't do so! His fingers stopped short of reaching her, the desperate flick of his wrists a feeble attempt to get hold of the one woman he ever loved. Panicking, he looked back at her, "Megumi…What's going on? Why can't I reach you?"

She shook her head, sadness crossing her face. "You can't… you can't…" she kept repeating over and over again while shaking her head.

Frustrated, Sanosuke started to say something, but realized that the ground he was standing on was not the stone-grey concrete of the harbour, but on the ship's deck! It was then he realized that he was re-living the day he left Japan! "No…matte-MATTE!" He finally yelled out, desperate to get back to the harbour.

Though the distance between them was great, and Megumi's voice was but a whisper, he could still hear her words loud and clear as they echoed in his mind.

"Come back to me, Sanosuke. Come back to _us._"

_Come back…_

…

"Megumi!"

Sanosuke woke up with a start. It took a few minutes for the former Zanza to get his thoughts in order before he realized where he was and what had happened.

Rubbing his eyes, he grumbled to himself. "That's the fifth time this week… am I ever to get any rest or not?" (Actually, he didn't really need any rest due to the fact that he was forever lazing away, but anyway…)

In the midst of his grumbling, he recalled his dream. It was the same as usual, with that fox coming back to pester him again.

Except this time, she asked him to come back home.

Even when he was miles away from home, she was still putting him in a dilemma like this.

"Kuso…" he muttered, banging his bandaged fist against the wall a few times.

It wasn't as if he didn't want to come home; he was ashamed to. Every time he thought of what he put her through that night and the very next morning when he disappeared, he cursed himself for doing so.

It was much better if he stayed put and not return to cause any more trouble for them.

But now…

"Bleargh…" he said finally, falling back down, his eyebrows furrowed as if in great concentration. "Shall I go home, or shall I not go home? Maybe it's better if I just let them be?"

"On the other hand, I _could_ give the others a surprise… after all they haven't seen their beloved "rooster head" for years now…"

"Or they might just jump me for taking off like that six years ago."

Argh, decisions, decisions.

…

Back in Tokyo, Megumi was clearing up after dinner. Sakura was playing in a corner by herself while Outa helped to take the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

"Megumi-san." Said Outa suddenly, as he was carrying the last plate into the kitchen to be washed clean.

"Yes Outa?" Megumi replied, looking up from where she was.

"I've got something to ask you…"

"Go ahead, Outa," she replied, turning back to the table which she was fervently wiping to get that annoying soy sauce stain off it.

"Have you ever thought of going back to Aizu where you came from originally?" he said.

A few minutes passed as the lady doctor stared intently at the young adolescent.

_Darn it! _He chided himself. _I knew I shouldn't have asked her such a sensitive question. Now she's definitely going to give me those fox ears of hers and probably throw me out the window or something like that. _

Finally, Megumi replied. "Why do you ask such a question at this moment?"

"Well…" Outa began hesitantly. "You've always spoken about your missing family members in Aizu, and since my brother's not around anymore, and the doctors there need your assistance, why are you-" he stopped short, thinking that he must have crossed some line.

The lady doctor smiled back at him, even though somewhere in her heart she felt a tinge of sadness that Sanosuke wasn't in Tokyo anymore. "Because I chose to remain here." She told him honestly. "There's still Ken-san and his family that I have to look after, and I can't say that that brat of a Yahiko will never get another injury owing to those fights and injuries he gets for the rest of his life. Besides, Dr Gensai needs my help here, and there's little Sakura to think about she could never bear to leave this place."

Outa nodded. "Sou desu ka." He said.

"How about you Outa?" she asked him now. "Why aren't you going back to stay with your sister Uki? She's probably so busy that she's written quite a few times asking when you intend to return home."

The young adolescent shook his head. "I don't intend to go back home so soon." He said. "Besides, she's already got a lot of help there and she's got a family of her own now, so why should I disturb her? I also want to live on my own… like my… brother."

Silence shrouded the room once more as the memory of Sagara Sanosuke re-surface.

Clenching his fist, the younger brother of Sanosuke vowed, "And I'm not moving an inch until that egghead of my brother comes home so I can give him a really good punch!"

_I wish he'd come home too-no. The time is long past for such wishes. He'll never come back. And I don't ever need him._

Just then, Sakura jumped up excitedly and pointed out the window. "Mommy, Mommy!" she cried, "There's a little yellow bird perching on that branch there! Kawaii ne!"

The pair rushed to the window and spotted the yellow bird making its nest in the sakura tree. "It's beautiful," Outa agreed.

"Look, it's making its home here!" Sakura pointed out.

She turned to the two older members of her family. "Does this mean Birdie will be staying here?"

Megumi nodded. In response, Sakura shrieked with joy at this new addition to the family and the entire place was filled with cries of "Welcome home!"

…

They didn't need to move anywhere else. Here was as perfect a home as any place could be. The important thing was they had each other, and nothing else to get in their way.

Every day they could be sure that they could return home to a safe, warm place and sleep peacefully in a warm bed, taking comfort in the knowledge that they could wake up in the same place.

In the evening when the sun sets, all birds flock to the nests they built; to their homes, or to their chicks to feed them. And by the time the moon is in the sky, each nests houses the residents, all nestled up and awaiting the next day.

But some birds… they continue to fly even after the sunset… and they forget the nest they left behind…

Not even know about the girl named Sakura.

…

He was going back. Sanosuke decided that if he wanted his dreams to stop and his "beauty sleep" to come back, he would have to go back to Tokyo and see how they were doing.

And then-?

The former Zanza didn't really feel like thinking of "and then"s now. He was way too tired for such thought. This was probably due to his lack of sleep, credited to the constant dreams or rather "nightmares" that interrupted his sleep from time to time.

Sanosuke stood at the railing, watching the ship leave the shores of China where he had spent the past six years.

"Jan e," he bid farewell. He was going to miss the place.

Just as he had missed Japan, the Kenshin gumi, and of course his Kitsune.

…

In time, those birds that still circle the night sky in a somewhat aimless manner will eventually grow tired and want to return to their nest.

They will descend slowly to that nest, searching out the home that they built. They will return to find their "family members", who also have been looking out for that missing resident.

Every bird will eventually return home to its nest.

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Author's Note: like I said, not much done here, but there will be a LOT of changes for chapter three. Stay tuned!

Until the Next Update!

-grin5-

mC


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